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Introducing Frenchette

The restaurant under construction in the former Cercle Rouge space seems to be proceeding extremely slowly—it’s been barely framed on the inside for a while now—but appearances must be deceiving, because chef-owners Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr have announced a September opening via WSJ magazine. The name: “Frenchette, which takes its name from a 1978 song by the New York Dolls’ David Johansen.” The article gets into Hanson’s and Nasr’s longtime experience working for Keith McNally, but—and this is great news—it says that they’re planning on venturing into unfamiliar territory:

‘It should be similar in spirit to the neo-bistros that have taken over Paris,’ says Nasr. He and Hanson want license to cook off-the-cuff in ways they couldn’t before. ‘We have to be more open to what’s going on,’ Hanson says with regard to both seasonality and current tastes. There’s an aging room in the basement, and a custom kitchen island that features a rotisserie and Japanese-charcoal grill. The chefs are considering dishes like spit-roasted lobster with curry butter and fries; suckling pig cooked over hay; several lighter preparations, like a citrus salad with chicories, coriander and pistachios; and, befitting their history, a burger.